Old School Drive-In . . . Japanese Style: Personal Challenge, Day 34 (10.20.12)

Finally, it feels like October here in California. I now have all my Halloween decor and I am ready to decorate. I spent the day organizing my decor and then I had to make a trip up to Lowes for supplies (batteries, extension cords, ground stakes, etc.).

On my way home from Lowes, as the hunger set in, I decided to look for a place to eat a late lunch. Through Yelp, I found a place called Bean Sprouts in Arcadia. It said it was a Chinese restaurant and that sounded incredibly good at the moment. So I made my way into the quaint little downtown area of Arcadia that has a bunch of little shops and restaurants. I found Bean Sprouts but it was closed for a private event.

POK-A-DOTS

As I walked back to my car, I noticed this store called Pok A Dots, a costume shop near Bean Sprouts. Being a Halloween fan, I decided to stop in and check it out.

Pok A Dots, in a small, crowded little shop filled floor to ceiling with costumes and accessories. They even have costume rentals. The costumes range from the ones you would find at Party City/Halloween City to the costumes that would be used in a play or movie production. It reminded me of a very small version of Hollywood Toys and Costumes in Hollywood (minus all the Halloween decor). There were so many people packed into this small store (including a couple making out in the costumes in the back) that it was a bit difficult to really check things out. But I noticed the staff was helping each individual person with their costume choices. This is definitely a store I want to go back to, but not on a weekend in October.

Bento Ya

In the meantime, the search for food continued. Once again, I pulled out my phone and searched Yelp. There was a Japanese place, Bento Ya, located down First Avenue in Arcadia, a half a mile from my current location.

Bento Ya looks like a 50’s style Drive-In restaurant. There is even oldies music playing. But there is no diner food here, it is Japanese food and drinks. I decided to order the Chicken Teriyaki meal with a California Sushi Roll as a side. I also ordered the Japanese Green Tea. The meal also came with Miso soup and steamed rice.

Chicken Teriyaki Meal

Overall, the food was pretty good. It wasn’t the best Japanese food I had ever had but it was OK–a three star rating. But maybe my rating is also based on the surreal atmosphere at Bento Ya. It was very strange to hear Stevie Wonder music playing in a restaurant where everyone speaks Japanese. It made me wonder if this is what restaurants were like in Japan in the 1950s.